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WLKY Investigates: Local firefighters packing heat

Thanks to a revision to a state firearms law, firefighters in Louisville’s 20 suburban districts, along with all special districts in the state, are allowed to bring their weapons to work and can carry concealed weapons while they work.

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Thanks to a revision to a state firearms law, firefighters in Louisville’s 20 suburban districts, along with all special districts in the state, are allowed to bring their weapons to work and can carry concealed weapons while they work.

State Representative Bob Damron (D) Nicholasville, said he pushed through the revision because, he said, firefighters had approached him.

“A lot of the firefighters have been telling me they want the right to protect themselves,” Damron said. “Our constitution says they have that right.”

Damron was not referring to the U.S. Constitution, but to Kentucky’s constitution, which goes even further than the Second Amendment, spelling out the right of Kentuckians to have guns to protect themselves and their property.

Damron’s bill, backed by the National Rifle Association, quietly passed through both houses of the Kentucky Legislature last summer and became the law of the land in January, prohibiting all special districts, including fire districts, from banning guns.

He believes placing weapons on firefighters changes the perception of firefighters, creates new dangers and may actually make some fire crews targets.

“The firefighters are seen as the good guys. We're the ones that come and help you,” Tyler said. “We're not the ones that enforce laws.

While Tyler said none of the firefighters at Harrods Creek has brought in a weapon yet, there is nothing he can do to stop that. It’s a far cry from the ban on guns he imposed just a month ago.

“It's not what the public come to expect from a firefighter. They don't expect to see a gun on that firefighter,” Tyler said.

Meanwhile, Buechel Fire Department’s Chief Rick Harrison was recently quoted in a Courier-Journal article as supporting the new gun measure. Yet, after repeated requests, Chief Harrison told WLKY he could not answer our questions, nor tell us if any Buechel firefighters are currently carrying guns.

New Dangers

Back at Harrods Creek, Tyler pointed to dangers, among them, mixing guns and flames.

If a firefighter carries his weapon in to an active fire, Tyler said, the ammunition could be set off by the heat.

There is also concern about where to put the gun to avoid that kind of danger.

Tyler’s biggest objection is centered on the danger to his crews caused by a perception shift that he said is inevitable when you add guns.

“I believe firefighters will become targets because people that see us as a threat,” Tyler said.

Damron disagreed, saying unarmed firefighters are already targets, referring to the Christmas Eve shooting in Webster, N.Y., when two firefighters were killed and two more injured when they were shot by a gunman responding to a call.

“I don't think carrying a weapon makes anybody a target,” Damron said. “If anything, it probably makes them less of a target. The fact that a criminal knows they're going to be able to defend themselves.”

Tyler strongly disagreed, citing that incident was strong enough to rationalize putting guns on so many firefighters in Kentucky.

“Society's going crazy right now,” Tyler said. “So you can't take those isolated incidents and apply them everywhere.